Chapter 353

“This oil painting is quite nice, this bow is good too, and so is this wooden music stand.”

The spirit Emma was having a great time; the changes of the age brought too many new things, and she was precisely the kind who loved change.

The Sky Queen, using the alias Mary, had earned a good deal of money—but she spent it all clean within a short time.

The spirit, utterly unconcerned with money, had only a brief time in the present world, and spent without restraint.

In the temporarily rented house, too many odd and cluttered collectibles had piled up; most were worth little, yet all were new inventions from the past few centuries.

New artistic painting styles, improved woodworking for aiming aids, new musical instrument designs—these things seemed ordinary to outsiders, but to Emma, they radiated fresh wonder.

Even decade-old popular picture frames, small toys, and short tunes were fresh curios worth collecting to her.

And if her little hobby was merely spending money, then her next hobby was one that could bankrupt even those with modest means.

“Aww, so warm, sticky, and wonderful! Bought it!”

After buying this mutated fur-ball creature from a roadside alchemist, Emma acquired her twenty-seventh strange pet.

In this era, collecting inanimate objects wasn’t expensive at all—collecting living things was truly costly.

The cost of housing, feed, and toys for her new pet had already accumulated into a substantial sum.

“Huh, eaten it all again? This isn’t the wilds—hunting’s such a hassle.”

Her pets included a primitive war elephant capable of serving as a war machine, a six-ton carnivorous sub-dragon, and a colony of mutated gorillas—the pile of meat and vegetables in the room barely lasted them one day.

Food was extremely precious in this era.

To lavish so many “pets” with such luxury likely exceeded even noble limits.

“This won’t do. I’ll take a short job.”

Her time was limited, so she could only accept short-term missions, considering her required income and strength level.

“Any tasks involving dragons, demons, or great beasts? Preferably a one-time hunting job.”

Yet for the most deadly short-term high-difficulty tasks, she actively sought them out at the Adventurer’s Guild.

This was naturally good for the guild—too many lethal tasks were waiting for someone to take them.

Recently, there had been an extremely dangerous dragon-hunting contract—and naturally, Li En’s contract fell into her hands.

This was fate’s karmic cause, and an inevitability.

After setting a time, she went to meet the client.

“Huh, this house doesn’t look like the kind someone with this kind of money would live in.”

She had no discriminatory thoughts—she was merely curious, staring at this “commoner district” small house.

Why would someone who could afford the “Dragon-Slaying” bounty live in such a modest house?

Observation and analysis of surroundings were instinctive for people like them; any inconsistency could be a sign of danger—in a sense, this was an overly realistic paranoid delusion.

“Trap? Cultists?”

Standing outside the small house, her long ears twitched unconsciously, gathering information from the surroundings.

The next moment, she understood.

“A Holy Knight? This scent—Pure Oath Holy Knight? No wonder.” Emma, sensing the odors of “Radiance” and “Oath,” filled in the blanks in her mind.

She scratched her head, finding an explanation.

If the person living here was one of those self-torturing types, it probably wasn’t a trap.

“If it’s a Holy Knight, then it’s a dragon-slaying mission? That might be a bit easier.” True veteran adventurers often worried less about the task itself than about their teammates and employers.

As an opponent, a rigid Holy Knight was troublesome—but as a teammate… well, still troublesome, but at least you didn’t have to fear a knife in the back.

“Hey, anyone home? I’m here for the mission.”

Emma had already heard the sound of sword practice inside, smelled the scent of Radiance, and faintly sensed the waves of “Exorcism Slash.”

Pretending ignorance, she still estimated the possible reward—Holy Knights were trustworthy, but usually had little money, and extreme ones often caused disputes over loot distribution.

She walked in slowly, then saw the bare-chested figure earnestly swinging a sword.

Familiar. Just a quick glance.